Colorado · Area of Critical Environmental Concern
Juanita Arch ACEC
BLM found a natural system here, and its plan calls for special management. BLM's records place no claim, lease or right of way inside the line today, and three grazing allotments cover part of it. It covers 1,624 acres and was designated August 24, 2015, in the 2015 Grand Junction RMP. In the plan's name, RMP stands for resource management plan.
One of the 1,120 places the Bureau of Land Management has designated an Area of Critical Environmental Concern. This page shows its line, what BLM found there and what sits inside it.
The line
Ground: USGS The National Map, topographic tiles. Boundaries: BLM's own, read Oct 20, 2026. The 3 grazing allotments below aren't marked.Grazing allotments
3 grazing allotments cover part of this line. Their permittees aren't named here yet.
- Blue Mesa42,040acres
- Bull Hill-May common14,610acres
- Dolores River3,526acres
The nearest areas
- Dolores River Riparian ACECColorado · 7,428 acres · at least 2 active mining claims and 3 more BLM lists as Filed, 3 rights of way, 11 grazing allotments covering part of it2miles
- Sinbad Valley ACECColorado · 6,388 acres · 1 right of way, 4 grazing allotments covering part of it7miles
- The Palisade ACECColorado · 32,197 acres · 5 rights of way, 17 grazing allotments covering part of it12miles
- Unaweep Seep ACECColorado · 84 acres · a grazing allotment covering part of it13miles
- Biological Soil Crust ACECColorado · 385 acres · 2 grazing allotments covering part of it19miles
Next to it
Dolores River Riparian Area of Critical Environmental Concern touches the line.
More from BLM's Colorado office
Every area BLM's Colorado office holdsThe proposed rule
A proposed rule, RIN 1004-AF53, would change how BLM drafts every land use plan, and how it designates ACECs like Juanita Arch ACEC. The comment window hasn't opened: the proposed rule wasn't in the Federal Register at our last check. The Watch sends one email the day it prints.
The rule's abstract
The purpose of this rulemaking is to establish in regulations an updated process for the approval of the development, revision, amendment, and maintenance of land use plans, as provided for by the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976, for public lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). Additionally, this rulemaking will provide clarification of the process the BLM uses for designating Areas of Critical Environmental Concern.Unified Agenda entry for RIN 1004-AF53, Publication ID 2026, reginfo.gov (OMB OIRA), read Oct 18, 2026